High-Speed Empire

The story of the world's most audacious infrastructure project.

Less than a decade ago, China did not have a single high-speed train in service. Today, it owns a network of 14,000 miles of high-speed rail, far more than the rest of the world--combined. Now, China is pushing those tracks into Southeast Asia, reviving a century-old colonial fantasy of an imperial railroad stretching to Singapore, and kicking off a key piece of the world's most ambitious displays of global influence since the Marshall Plan--the One Belt One Road initiative--with a price tag of $1 trillion, reaching into the borders of more than 60 countries.

The Pan-Asia Railway portion of One Belt One Road could transform Southeast Asia, bringing shiny Chinese cities, entire economies, and waves of migrants where none existed before. It is also a cautionary tale about whether a new superpower, with levels of global authority unimaginable just a decade ago, can pull entire regions into its orbit simply with tracks, sweat, and lots of money. Journalist Will Doig travels to Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, to chronicle the dramatic transformations taking place--and whether ordinary people have a voice in this moment of economic, political, and cultural collision.

Will Doig is a journalist covering urban development, transportation, and infrastructure, with an international focus. He is currently senior editor at George Soros's Open Society Foundations. Previously, he was International Editor at "Next City," an online magazine about urbanism, Salon's weekly "Dream City" columnist, and was one of the founding editors of The Daily Beast. He is a recurring guest on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" and his work has appeared in dozens of magazines and been republished in two books. A graduate of George Washington University, he lives in New York City.